The track was new and the competition was hot as the fastest sport on skates returned to Saint Paul, USA, for the fourth time in the 2015 season opener of Red Bull Crashed Ice. Friday's action crowned surprise winners in this year's first team competition and determined the brackets for the individual finals on Saturday.
Under a stunning crescent moon and amid the dazzle of a winter carnival, all eyes in Saint Paul, USA were focused on the ice cross downhill track Friday evening, where Team Prestige Worldwide won the team competition. It was a major upset, with defending world champions Couch Garden Crew, as well as Living the Dream, last year's second place team, failing to make the finals.
The blazing battle packed the narrow, twisting track with bodies jostling it out elbow-to-elbow. After working their way to the finals in heat after exhausting heat, Prestige Worldwide - Reed Whiting, of the United States, Dylan Moriarity, of Canada, and Frenchmen Tristan Dugerdil and Pâcome Schmitt - took a critical two-man lead in the final and never let it go, leaving Ice Crew in second. In the fight for third, Team Finland beat Team Murica.
Visit redbullcrashedice.com/results for the full rundown from Friday's racing...
Earlier in the day, the Elimination Round narrowed down the field for the 64-man finals of history's 15th Red Bull Crashed Ice season opener Saturday. The men's individual finals will include four world champions, including the current title-holder Marco Dallago, whose success with innovative, year-round training methods changed the game last year. The champions will be looking over their shoulders for threats like the second- and third-place finishers from the 2014 season, Canadian Scott Croxall and American Cameron Naasz. Naasz, a local Minnesotan, will have the benefit of home turf advantage as well as momentum from his win at last week's first-ever Riders Cup, a new competition "by riders for riders" that will be held four times this year with opportunities to earn world championship points.
Friday's action also saw 16 female contenders from five countries qualify for tomorrow's women's individual finals, including Finland's Salla Kyhala, a multi-time Red Bull Crashed Ice winner who threw down a sub-50-second run.
At 460 metres, the track in front of the majestic cathedral of Saint Paul is the longest of the 2015 season. With outrageous new obstacles from beginning to end - including a make-or-break 90-degree Corner Peak only metres from the finish - endurance, agility and absolutely perfect focus will be key to win in front of the city's traditionally massive crowd of fans.
Results: 1. Prestige Worldwide (Reed Whiting, Tristian Dugerdil, Pacôme Schmitt, Dean Moriarity), 2. Team Ice Crew (Fabian Mels, Andrey Lavrov, Mark Taru, Coleton Haywood), 3. Team Finland (Miikka Jouhkinmainen, Paavo Klintrup, Toni Heikkila)
For more details on the event, including how to watch Saturday's race live, visit redbullcrashedice.com/saint-paul. You can also follow all of the action via our Live Results. Get the results of the heats in real time at redbullcrashedice.com/results.
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